Newfoundland woman plans own funeral, gets celebrated band to re-do song for it

By The Canadian PressOctober 21, 2017

PETLEY, N.L. — An 80-year-old woman who planned her own funeral has managed to convince a celebrated Newfoundland and Labrador band to re-record a song so it would be more appropriate for her eventual farewell.

Eleanor Parrott said she wanted to pre-plan her funeral to remove the burden from her family and had ironed out all of the details except for one — the music that would play when she's carried out of the church.

Parrott said she loves the song "Carry Me" by Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers, but the ballad eventually turns into a jaunty tune and she didn't feel that was appropriate for the occasion.

"I had a DVD tape of it... and the minute I heard it I said, 'Oh my lord, wouldn't that be wonderful coming out of church during my funeral,'" Parrott said in a phone interview Wednesday from her home in the coastal village of Petley on Random Island.

"I wondered if they'd do a disc for me just with that lone song on it and sing it soft and mellow right through."

So Parrott called up the music and comedy trio's manager to ask if they would re-record the song, maintaining the slow tempo throughout.

On Friday, band member Wayne Chaulk and his wife arrived on her doorstep and handed her a copy of "Carry Me" that he had personally re-recorded in his son's home studio to fulfil her unusual request.

"Well what a surprise. What a surprise. I didn't know what to say or what to do," said Parrott, who will be 81 years old next month and has nine children, 22 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren, with one more on the way.

"I opened the door and said, 'Well God bless yas — come on in'. We had a hug and we talked just the same as if I always knew him. It was really special."

Parrott said it was the most "precious" thing that's ever happened in her life.

"I thought it was the most wonderful thing I had ever heard," said Parrott of her personalized version of "Carry Me."

The song is featured on the band's 2009 album The Big Two Five. It goes: "Oh carry me, would you carry me? Take my footprints from the sand. As time goes by we search for joy and the weight of our burden grows. As darkness falls and twilight calls it's our faith that will carry us through."

Chaulk said when he heard Parrott's request, he knew he had to fulfil it.

"It was just one of those little things in your life that comes along and it just feels right from the beginning that it should be done," said Chaulk in a phone interview from his home in Charlottetown N.L., adding that the other band members were unfortunately unavailable for the re-recording.

"This 80-year-old lady who was so assertive in what she wanted, she just wanted to take care of things so there was no stress on her family. And the way that she came to us — with a particular piece that wasn't recorded the way she wanted and to ask us to go do it — I thought it was just great."

Parrott said Chaulk's visit took her by surprise, and she wanted to show her gratitude, so she offered to pay him.

Chaulk said he refused, so Parrott turned to a cabinet full of figurines.

"She surveyed them all and then stood up on her tip toes and picked out a little golden horse and carriage with a clock in it," said Chaulk, whose band has been around since the early 1990s. "It's now prominently displayed on a souvenir shelf in my kitchen."

As for whether the world will get to hear the Parrott-inspired version of "Carry Me," Chaulk said: "Definitely not."

"That one's for Eleanor," he said. "If you really want to hear it, go to her funeral."

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